Time After Time
by faelaine
Summary: Inu Yasha has an epiphany about Kagome and Kikyou. ONE SHOT, SONGFIC. Please R&R. No flames please.


SONG: Eva Cassidy - Time After Time

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INU YASHA, OR TIME AFTER TIME

* * *

'_Why does he have to be so difficult?_ ' Kagome thinks to herself as she pulls herself out of the well. '_All I want is for him to see me. Just me! And not Kikyou_.'

"Hi everyone, I'm home," she shouts to everyone and noone as she walks up the stairs to her bedroom. '_Please just leave me alone tonight_,' she thinks as she opens her bedroom door.

_**Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick, **_

_**And think of you **_

_**Turning in circles confusion **_

_**Is nothing new **_

'_I just want him to love me. The way that I love him. But he doesn't. He doesn't even see I am there_,' was the last thought that crossed her mind before she fell asleep.

_**Flashback to warm nights **_

_**Almost left behind **_

_**Suitcase of memories, **_

_**Time after **_

'_I think I love her, I really do_,' Inu Yasha begins to struggle within himself. '_But I don't understand. How can I? I've already promised myself to Kikyou. I can't just go back on my promise that easily. But then, I've promised to protect Kagome too. If I go with Kikyou then I've failed Kagome. Keh! This is so confusing!_'

_**Sometimes you picture me **_

_**I'm walking too far ahead **_

_**You're calling to me, **_

_**I can't hear **_

_**What you have said**_

Inu Yasha's eyes light up with a brand new understanding.

'_Why am I always so stupid. I feel so at peace around Kagome. So... accepted. Kikyou never accepted me. She always wanted me to be someone I am not. Now Kikyou is dead, I owe her something for that, but why should I owe her my life? It's not like it was me who stole the jewel and struck her down. I know she knows that. And yet she trusted me so little that she wanted me dead. She, herself, pinned me to that tree. It was Kagome who freed me. I didn't realize it then, but it was in fact Kagome. Kagome has stood by me after all I have done to her. She's accepted me for who I am. She gets mad and goes home sometimes... feh! I hate that!... But she always comes back. Why am I always so dense? Why did it take me so long to see what was standing in front of me?_' he thought.

His epiphany was a bit late, seeing as how he had already upset Kagome earlier that night. She once again had tried to express her feelings to him. She may have not been direct about it, But she knew he understood her. How many ways could one take such a thing?

During an exceptionally difficult battle earlier that afternoon, Kagome could have swore she'd seen Inu Yasha being ripped apart. After the dust had cleared, she was so elated to see that he was unharmed that she ran up to him, threw her arms around his neck, and with tears in her eyes she kissed him.

Inu Yasha was stunned by Kagome's actions. He was sure he had lost his marbles. Kagome would never do such a thing. His only response to her actions were to push her away and ask what the hell her problem was. That, of course, only resulted in Kagome sitting him and running towards the well in tears.

_**And you say **_

_**go slow **_

_**I've fall behind **_

_**The second hand unwinds **_

_**If you're lost you can look**_

_**and you will find me **_

_**Time after time **_

When Kagome awoke the next morning, she decided she might as well get it over with. She was going to go back to the Feudal Era to tell Inu Yasha what a dumb prick he was. She was going to leave him. Why should she stay after all he had done?

She started to climb out of the well, only to be hoisted up by her arm. She gasped and looked up, discovering a pair of emotion-filled amber eyes staring deep within her own.

Inu Yasha pulled her out of the well and into his embrace. "Kagome," he wispered and closed his eyes. "I'm so sorry."

_**If you fall I will catch you**_

_**I'll be waiting **_

_**Time after time **_

She didn't know what to say. She was supposed to be mad at him. She was supposed to be leaving him, but here he was... _apoligizing_? She was sure that she must be hearing things, "Inu... Yasha?" she finally spoke.

"I'm sorry Kagome," he said again. "You deserve so much better than what I can give you."

Was she seeing things now too, or were those _tears_ in his eyes? "Inu Yasha, it's oka.." She started to say, but he cut her off.

"No it's not okay. I'm so stubborn sometimes! I was so determined to keep my promise to Kikyou, that I had never realized that in doing so I was breaking my promise to you," He hurried through his explaination before the mood passed. " I promised to protect you! I promised to keep you safe from any harm! I was so stupid! I never thought of the fact that I was the one who was hurting you! I've hurt you! I'm so sorry!"

_**If you fall I will catch you**_

_**I will be waiting **_

_**Time after time **_

_**Time after time **_

"Inu Yasha. I don't know what has come over you, but I'm glad it has," She smiled at him with tears forming in her eyes. She leaned forward and places a gentle kiss on his lips, then wrapped her arms tighter around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. '_I love you Inu Yasha._' she told him in her thoughts.

_**After your picture fades and darkness has **_

_**Turned to gray **_

_**Watching through windows**_

_**I'm wondering **_

_**If you're OK**_

Inu Yasha quickly composed himself as he felt their friends approaching. With a quick kiss and a smile he turned from her and walked towards the village.

_**You say**_

_**go slow **_

_**I fall behind **_

_**The drum beats out of time **_

Kagome smiled as he walked away from her. This had gone completely against her original plans, and she couldn't be happier about it. This is what she had dreamt of since she'd met Inu Yasha. His affections.

She danced past Miroku and Sango who were currently looking at her very strangly. "Hey you guys!" she half squealed and kept walking in the direction Inu Yasha had gone.

_**If you're lost you can look**_

_**and you will find me **_

_**Time after time **_

It didnt take her long to catch up to him. He seemed to be walking a lot slower than usual.

_**If you fall I will catch you**_

_**I'll be waiting **_

_**Time after time **_

With a quick glance that said more than words ever could to her, he jumped up onto his favorite branch of his favorite tree outside of Kaede's hut.

_**If you fall I will catch you**_

_**I will be waiting **_

_**Time after time **_

"Kagome!" Shouted an excited little kitsune. "I would have greeted you sooner but Kaede made me take a bath," he frowned.

Kagome giggled at Shippou. She knew he hated baths when she wasn't the one there with him.

Inu Yasha knew this as well. "Keh," Inu Yasha grumbled. "You should learn to take them on your own then! Maybe then you wouldn't need to be given one like a little baby," he teased.

Shippou stuck his tongue out at Inu Yasha. "You should sit him Kagome. He's so mean!"

"Oh Shippou," she giggled. "He's right you know. You're old enough now to be able to start taking baths on your own."

Shippou frowned. "But Kagomeeee!" he whined.

Inu Yasha jumped from his tree with a 'Feh' and walked off into the forest.

"Excuse me Shippou. I should go talk to him. I dont know what his problem is today," Kagome stated. "Could you please tell Sango, Miroku and Kaede that we will be back shortly." With that she turned to follow the retreating hanyou.

_**Time after time (Time after time) **_

_**Time after time **_

Just out of any nosy human's (or kitsune's) hearing range Inu Yasha stopped. He knew she had followed him.

Kagome stopped and looked questioningly at Inu Yasha. "What was all of that about?" she asked.

"Just the truth," he started. "He'e getting too old to be bathing with my woman."

_**Time after time (Time after time) **_

_**Time after time **_

Kagome couldnt help but laugh at how much Inu Yasha had sounded like a certain wolf that he disliked greatly. She stepped closer to him and raised her eyebrow at him, "Your woman, eh?"

"Yep," He stated confidantly just before faltering a little. "If that's ok with you, that is."

_**Time after time **_

"But what about Kikyou?" she asked.

His face dropped. He felt like he had been slapped in the face. "So what about Kikyou? I'll avenge her death. We'll kill Naraku. What more should I owe her? I once thought I owed her my life, but in reality, I wasnt the one who killed her. Why should I die for something that wasn't my fault? She'll just have to understand."

_**Time after time (Time after time) **_

'_Good boy,_' Kagome thought with a giggle. "Ok then."

_**Time after... time (time)**_

His face lit up at her words. He'd never felt anything so right in all the world as he had just then. He scooped her up and kissed her passionately. This was the moment he had once wished for with Kikyou, but he couldn't be any happier that it was Kagome whom he had decided to share his life with.


End file.
